120 MUGILOIDS. ATHERINES. 



MUGILOIUS. 



49. The teeth in this family of fishes are so minute as to be often im- 

 perceptible to the naked eye. In the Mediterranean mullet, {Mugil 

 cephalus), they form a simple row along the margin of the upper and 

 lower jaws, and are attached to the gum, so as to be moveable like 

 the teeth of the Gonyodonts.(l) The inferior pharjmgeals are covered 

 with flexible ciliiform teeth ; those of the superior pharyngeals are 

 so delicate, that the bones seem to be clothed by a soft and finely 

 papillose velvet. The final comminution of the food is effected, in 

 the present family, in the stomach itself, which presents a structure 

 similar to that of the gizzard of birds. 



In the genus Cestraus the lower jaw is always edentulous ; but 

 there is a row of small and slender teeth along the margin of the 

 intermaxillary bones ; the palatines and vomer are without teeth, as 

 in the true Mugiles : the intermaxillary teeth are extremely fine in the 

 Cestraus plicatilis ; they are stronger, and disposed in several rows in 

 the Cestrcsus oxyrhynchus. In the Dajaus there are villiform teeth on 

 both jaws, and also on the palatines and vomer ; it is interesting to 

 observe, that, with this modification which indicates a diet of an 

 animal character, the stomach is much less muscular than in the 

 true mullets. In the Nestes, the jaws, vomer, and pharyngeals are 

 armed with teeth ' en cardes,' but the palatines are edentulous. In 

 the Tetragonurus the maxillary teeth are more developed than in the 

 previous genera ; there are twenty-four teeth which are simple, 

 conical, and slightly recurved in each intermaxillary bone ; there are 

 fifty on each side of the lower jaw, arranged in a single row ; these 

 are stronger, more compressed and more pointed than the upper ones. 

 Both series of teeth are but feebly attached to the bone, but those 

 of the lower jaw offer most resistance. There are longitudinal rows 

 of finer teeth on the vomer and palatine bones. The tongue is not 

 armed with teeth ; the pharyngeal bones support each an oval patch 

 of teeth * en cardes.' 



ATHERINES. 



50. The saud-smeltsor fishes of the family of Atherines have very 



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